John was a great musician- just listen to Accoustic and you will hear it- plus, John is one of the most influential avant garde quitar players EVER, but he never gets credit fo it. John came up with so many great guitar riffs- "Daytripper" "Cold Turkey"- he's really good.

As a guitar player, my perception is that he was average at best...his skills worsened as the years went on...he rarely made significant instrumental contributions on his own solo efforts. That being said, I don't care about his performance ability, I love his compositions.

-with regards,
ringo m.

"all i've got is a photograph and i realize you're not coming back anymore"

was john a virtuoso...i'd suggest no. but did he play with great feel, i'd say yes. someone mentions rythm guitar on all my loving...that is quite a riff, methinks.

but lets be honest. doing the relatively simple songs of the beatles, he was never required to do anything extraordinary. thats one of the things that made the beatles music special. while none of them were virtuosos (there might be an argument for paul and his bass, but that can be tackled in another thread) it was the way they interplayed with each other that made their music magical. they were a great band...with great songs.

the 70's were filled with bands comprised of great musicians who couldn't do a good song. but they could solo all day long. i'd suggest the beatles had the formula just about right.

I want to tell her that I love her a lot, but I got to get a belly full of wine.